Download Item:

Abstract:

Introduction:
Hand hygiene is a key component of infection control in healthcare. WHO recommends that healthcare
workers perform six specific poses during each hand hygiene action. SureWash (Glanta Ltd, Dublin, Ireland) is a novel device
that uses video-measurement technology and immediate feedback to teach this technique. We assessed the impact of self-
directed SureWash use on healthcare worker hand hygiene technique and evaluated the device’s diagnostic capacity.
Methods:
A controlled before-after study: subjects in Group A were exposed to the SureWash for four weeks followed by
Group B for 12 weeks. Each subject’s hand hygiene technique was assessed by blinded observers at baseline (T
0
) and
following intervention periods (T
1
and T
2
). Primary outcome was performance of a complete hand hygiene action, requiring
all six poses during an action lasting
$
20 seconds. The number of poses per hand hygiene action (maximum 6) was
assessed in a
post-hoc
analysis. SureWash’s diagnostic capacity compared to human observers was assessed using ROC
curve analysis.
Results:
Thirty-four and 29 healthcare workers were recruited to groups A and B, respectively. No participants performed a
complete action at baseline. At T
1
, one Group A participant and no Group B participants performed a complete action. At
baseline, the median number of poses performed per action was 2.0 and 1.0 in Groups A and B, respectively (p = 0.12). At T
1
,
the number of poses per action was greater in Group A (post-intervention) than Group B (control): median 3.8 and 2.0,
respectively (p
,
0.001). In Group A, the number of poses performed twelve weeks post-intervention (median 3.0) remained
higher than baseline (p
,
0.001). The area under the ROC curves for the 6 poses ranged from 0.59 to 0.88.
Discussion:
While no impact on complete actions was demonstrated, SureWash significantly increased the number of poses
per hand hygiene action and demonstrated good diagnostic capacity